Revenue was $41,000, the amount received from
pharmacies that had delivered the drug to patients, Vivus said.

Qsymia was approved y the US Food and Drug
Administration in July this year, one of the two obesity drugs to be approved
in the country in more than a decade.

However, according to Vivus, patients are abandoning
prescriptions at the pharmacy on discovering they must pay a large portion of
the cost out-of-pocket.

Vivus has taken the unusual strategy of getting the
drug prescribed by speciality doctors rather than primary-care general
physicians.

Shares of VVUS were down about 7% in yesterday’s
session and now up 3.50%.

Meanwhile Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(NASDAQ:ARNA),
which has launched rival anti-obesity drug Belviq, reported
lower-than-estimated losses for the third quarter benefiting from lower
research and development costs.

Arena reported losses of $15.5 million, or 7 cents per
share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. In the third quarter of 2011 Arena
lost $22.7 million, or 16 cents per share.

Its revenue declined to $1.5 million from $3.5
million, but most costs declined and the company booked a gain on revaluing
derivatives and recorded interest income.

Analysts were forecasting a larger loss of 9 cents per
share and $2.4 million in revenue.

Shares of the company are up 6% in today’s session,
paring all its losses earlier this week.